Vale: King CurtisCurtis Piehau Iaukea, III, better known as TV wrestler King Curtis died on the weekend, aged 73.

Curtis’ appeared in World Championship Wrestling with Jack Little at Channel Nine during the 1960s. His speciality was yelling down the barrel of the camera, telling opponents what he was going to do to them and captivating everyone from 9 to 90.

Wikipedia notes his first sojourns to Australia were in the 1964–1965 season, where he was a villain, teamed with Skull Murphy. The King Curtis tag was the one that stuck as he feuded against Mark Lewin. After becoming a fan favorite in time for the seventies, King Curtis feuded against Tiger Singh and various Japanese wrestlers.

He was best known at the leader (with Mark Lewin) of ‘The People’s Army’ against Big Bad John and his assorted ‘heels’.

Formerly a football star at the University of California, Iaukea headlined all over the world during his long career, known in particular for his bloody matches and feuds with Mark Lewin in a number of circuits.

After retiring in the mid-1980s, he turned to managing before he re-appeared briefly in the WWF as a manager and mouthpiece for wrestlers Kamala and Sika. He also appeared briefly as ‘The Master’ of The Dungeon of Doom stable in the mid-90s.

Under the name “Iau Kea” he also appeared in the film The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze with Moe Howard declaring “That’s not a man! That’s a committee!”.

His very last appearance was in a documentary made for and aired on Nine made by former wrestler Ron Miller called Ruff, Tuff and Real.

TNA Wrestling has acknowledged the death of wrestling legend “Macho Man” Randy Savage on their official website TNAWrestling.com. Savage worked with the company back in 2004, which was his first wrestling appearance for any wrestling company since he worked for WCW in 1999. Below is what TNA released on their website today:

TNA joins the entire wrestling world in mourning the passing of the legendary “Macho Man” Randy Savage. Savage was one of the most talented athletes to ever compete inside a wrestling ring. He truly transcended professional wrestling, becoming one of the true “icons” of our sport. Millions of wrestling fans grew up watching Savage battle other legends such as Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat and many more.

Savage appeared with TNA during our 2004 “Victory Road” and “Turning Point” events – memorable moments that we hope wrestling fans will never forget. TNA hopes all of our fans remember Randy Savage’s amazing life and career, and how he helped shape the sport as we know it today.